application ( el nysa )

[lemonadecandies]

OOC

Handle: Anne
Contact: passiones
Over 18? Yes!
Characters Played: None

THE CHARACTER

Character Name: Akane Tsunemori
Series: Psycho-Pass
Canon Point: Season 1, Episode 22, after speaking with the Sibyl System
Character Age: 20
Background: @ Psycho-Pass Wiki

Personality:

Unlike most other characters in Psycho-Pass, Akane steps onto the scene from a place of relative privilege. She grew up in with an unwaveringly clear Psycho-Pass reading, which, in a society where thought crimes are a very real concept, marked her as an inherently pure person. As such, she saw relatively little of the Sibyl System's unfairness and cruelty before joining the Public Safety Bureau as an Inspector--a cop and a handler of latent criminals, sent to hunt down other latent criminals.

Basically, there's no question that Akane has something of a naive mindset at the beginning of her story. Compared to her jaded, traumatized, and apathetic coworkers and subordinates, her eagerness to protect the abstract concept of justice in a poorly-disguised dystopia seems almost silly. But Akane's naivete puts her in a unique position with the police: she can clearly see the sharp contrast between the lives of those with clear readings and those of latent criminals, and her naivete allows her to struggle and win against society's insistence that this inequality is morally just.

Despite being as entrenched as anyone else in the Sibyl System's ethos from birth, Akane sees other human beings as people first, with their Psycho-Pass reading as a characteristic rather than a defining trait. Her desire to see the best in others overpowers the drive to conform. Those with clouded Psycho-Pass readings, including and especially the Enforcers she is supposed to coldly oversee and put down if necessary, are meant to be societal outsiders with no rights; she ought to look down on them. Instead, she treats them the same as she does her Inspector coworkers, taking their thoughts, feelings, and ideas into consideration and thinking critically about their circumstances.

In essence, Akane is a true humanist. She desires personal freedoms and self-determination for the people of Japan. She believes that the purpose of humanity is to strive to determine one's place in the world, and what she wants more than anything by her canonpoint is for everyone to be free to make their own choices. That being said, she balances idealism with a level of practicality and realism. More specifically, she is willing to make painful decisions to preserve lives for the moment with the goal of solving a problem in the long term. As much as she hates the Sibyl System, her most difficult decision is not to expose it yet, because based on experience, she knows if she does the country will dissolve into violent anarchy it cannot at this time survive. It's gut-wrenching, but as much as she wants revenge for the death of her friend and the suffering of the whole society, the choice to wait and plan is, in Akane's mind, the correct one, because it will minimize chaos, destruction, and loss of life.

Along with her practicality and positive, future-focused outlook, Akane brings a fair few other leadership qualities to the table. She's fair and balanced, focused on finding the correct path to the truth over favoring one person's opinions. While she's professional, she is in no way willing to be spoken down to. When one coworker repeatedly condescends to her in front of other coworkers, she hits her breaking point and responds by cutting down and dissecting each of his points, firmly but professionally. She refuses to be disrespected, just as she refuses to allow others to be disrespected in her presence.

In that sense, she can be pretty foolhardy. Akane's brave, but she can be stubborn and impulsive, too. She doesn't hesitate to step in or put herself in danger if she sees wrongdoing. It's less that she's self-destructive and more that she simply can't stand not taking action against something she sees as wrong. She's not afraid to piss people off if necessary, either. At one point, she points her Regulator (a gun that can literally liquify people at the sentient Sibyl System's discretion) at her own chest and blackmails the System, stone cold. Essentially, to Akane, there aren't any upper limits to what she's willing to risk to protect the rule of law and order as she defines it.

Perhaps Akane's most defining trait is that she's cool under pressure, regardless of her true emotional state. This is, in fact, a major plot point: this trait is so remarkable that it's considered almost freakish. Working with latent criminals like Enforcers is considered toxic to one's Psycho-Pass. The fact that Akane is able to work with Enforcers against the Sibyl System and maintain a perfectly clear Psycho-Pass marks her as irregular. In this way, she's similar to but on the opposite end of the spectrum as Makishima, whose Psycho-Pass remains clear and unclouded because he feels no remorse for his crimes. Makishima is called "criminally asymptomatic"; one might term Akane "resiliently asymptomatic". In her own way, Akane is quite troubled in this regard, because while she remains "pure" in the eyes of society and stays under the Sibyl System's radar, there's no recourse or support for her, simply because her Psycho-Pass doesn't change. It would be dishonest to say that Akane never experiences distress or trauma, because she does; it's just that she hides it well and has a level of resiliency in the form of her idealism and focus. And hide it she does--never let it be said Akane is one to reach out for support in times of crisis. She much prefers to give it than to receive it.

More than anything, Akane believes in the rule of law and order by her own definition. Vigilante law is not justice. She is appalled by the notion that her coworker would take the law into his own hands and kill a criminal himself. But Psycho-Pass Japan's laws aren't justice, either. Even before the Sibyl System reveals its true nature to her, Akane has come to the conclusion that the System is inherently flawed, arbitrary, unfair, and cruel. Despite the fact that it's the law and order she's grown up with, she discards it and redefines justice on her own terms. To her, this doesn't seem extraordinary. Akane firmly believes in the inherent goodness of humanity and its desire to uphold what's right. Even the apathetic humans living under the Sibyl System, who have relinquished their will for the System's control, are capable of redefining justice for themselves. This belief is what keeps Akane steady through the despair of everyday life under Sibyl. In essence, it is her optimism more than anything that keeps her sane.

Powers/Abilities: Akane is a competent tactician and leader and is physically fit, but she possesses no supernatural abilities to speak of. Her most unique characteristic is that her Psycho-Pass never becomes clouded (in other words, her stress level never leaves a healthy range) even when under pressure that would crack almost anyone else. The exact meaning of this is debatable, as the Psycho-Pass system is deeply flawed, but at the very least it means she's able to retain long-term mental health under stress and is an inherently resilient person.

Power Nerfs (if applicable): N/A

Inventory: Just the clothes on her back, including her MWPSB Inspector's jacket.

Incentives: Akane would request several comfortable pairs of pajamas, a heavy coat, sensible shoes, and the safety of her friends and family members in stasis.

SAMPLES

TDM: toplevel; tommy